The present invention relates to improvements in knock-down furniture, and, in one particular aspect, to a unique high-strength wooden chair, such as a rocker, prefabricated by way of a group of sub-assemblies which lend themselves to compact packing for shipment and which are readily united securely to yield a modish article exhibiting seat contouring and other aspects of quality appearance not degraded by its origins as a knock-down item.
It has been well known in the furniture trade to ship various items in disassembled form occupying relatively little volume, with the obvious attendant advantages. However, such practices can result in ungainly and inferior-quality appearance of even rather costly articles which have had to be altered peculiarly to facilitate their packaging in small sections or pieces, with consequent adverse marketing influences. Moreover, at the destination sites, relatively unskilled recipients should be able to assemble the parts quickly and easily, without elaborate tooling or fixtures, and the finished article should be and remain very strong.
By way of example of early knock-down rocking chairs, reference may be had to U.S. Pat. No. 655,488-Hayes, wherein a separate seat is slung between and screw-fastened with back and side posts, and to U.S. Pat. No. 693,197-White, wherein tie rods secure a notched seat and outside legs together, and to U.S. Pat. No. 882,316-Horton, wherein a seat is hooked in place. Legs and rockers are shown as a separate sub-assembly in U.S. Pat. No. 2,716,444-Smith, wherein the seat is a prefabricated part of a seat-arms-back unit, and, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,115,367-Gariepy, a chock-reinforced seat is separately connected with legs. arms and back posts via various fasteners. A cleating approach is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,981-Ostroff et al, and the bulky cleats there disposed atop marginal portions of a seat to hold arm and back units of the chair tend to be concealed when seat cushioning is added.